Can we use physiology to evaluate habitat quality at migration stopover sites of Western Sandpipers?
My research involves physiological information to address ecological questions concerning the migration of the Western Sandpiper (Calidris mauri). Westerns migrate from their breeding grounds in the arctic to their wintering grounds in Latin America and southern California. It takes them weeks to make this trip as they “hop” from site to site, stopping along the way for some R&R and to eat in order to restore fat reserves for the remaining trip. The overall goal of my project is to use physiological data to evaluate and compare several of these migratory stopover sites throughout the Georgia Basin in Washington State and BC. In evaluating these sites, the ultimate expression of site quality in the western sandpiper is fat deposition. If a site allows individuals to obtain a high rate of fattening, it is allowing the birds to achieve their ultimate goal better than a site at which the birds are not able to fatten. Previous studies have focused on mass to evaluate condition at these site
